I Remember You
by Ruby Fire Fox
Summary: A promise made years ago is revived when Raphael finds something he hasn't seen in over fifty years...
1. Remembering His Promise

_This is gonna be a real short fanfic. It's just a little remembrance dealy. If you're not familiar with the character of Yoshi, then I'll do a briefy. Aight? ^_^ Well, in TMNT the movie #3, they go back to feudal Japan through time warp. In the village where Mikey was brought, there is a little boy that Raphael meets. Yoshi was the reason they were able to go back home. So, seeing that I think Yoshi brought out the more caring side of Raph, I thought I'd write a little somethin' for him...enjoy!_

_**UPDATE: Buslady of SoCal pointed out to me a scene in my story that was her idea and I failed to give her credit. The cave in the wall thingy was her creation, and I didn't realize it when I was writing. Kinda thought it was apart of the movie or something...I dunno. I was tired when I wrote it. . (Also one of those moments where you think you've read it somewhere before but can't remember where.) Anyway, yeah. "Raph's Sanctuary" is BUS LADY'S NOT MINE! Thank you!! ^_^**_

Raphael grumbled and cursed to the air, sorting through the hundreds of boxes scattered all across the living area floor. On his knees and digging through old junk, Raph's patience was dimming fast. Being an old turtle had its downfalls for sure. He had begun to curse his human side for the characteristic of aging, for his eyesight was a bit off and his joints creaked. His muscles were still nicely defined, but since he had resigned his position of a ninja he had no use for them. 'Curse Leo and his "gotta stay healthy and strong" bullshit!'

"I don't see why we gotta do this, Leo!" Raph snarled, throwing an old teddy bear of Mikey's at Leo. "Why can't we just keep them for memory's sake and leave 'em alone?"

Leo smiled to himself before turning to face Raph. 'He'll always be a grouch till the day he dies,' Leo thought, but then sighed. He knew that day was coming closer and closer for Raph as well as for Leo and the others. Splinter had been long gone since they were around twenty. Now, they were far into their sixties, nearing seventy.

"Because, Raph...one, you just want to leave them alone so you don't have to do any work, and two...they take up too much room in the lair. So keep working." With that, Leo went back into his subway car to collect more things.

Raph muttered some random profanity and kept digging. He got up to carry the box he had been working on outside when something caught his eye. Something had fallen out of the box. Cursing again for the need to bend down and get it, Raph reached down to pull back just as fast. Down by his foot lay an old, dusty gold scepter. 

Raph quickly snatched his precious possession and went out into the maze of tunnels, leaving his box where it was to go to his little spot where he always used to go when he was an angry teenager. The little "cave" in the wall that he liked to think of as his "sanctuary."

When he finally reached the spot, lifting himself up with much effort and sitting in a corner, he held the scepter to his view and his eyes grew glossy. 'Ah, I remember you,' Raph thought fondly. 'I remember you, Yoshi...'

His thoughts journeyed back to the little Japanese boy the turtles had met when they traveled through time back to feudal Japan. He remembered how old Yoshi was when he had met him. Yoshi was five...and felt he was too "old" to play childish games with the rest of the village children. He remembered the war, and how Yoshi's innocence was ended at such an early age worrying about it, just like the rest of the village.

Raph's eyes filled up with tears, and he wasn't ashamed of it anymore. If he were a teenager again, he would hate himself for letting himself become so weak. But now, it felt good to go back to the "good old days," and it felt good to keep the promise he had made to that little boy.

"I didn't forget, Yoshi," Raph whispered out loud. And, just like any other would, he thought about Yoshi. He could remember a time when Raph had needed to find a place to think, and instead of that, found Yoshi... 

Yoshi sat with one arm wrapped tightly around his knees, the other hand throwing rocks into the river. His eyes were narrowed and glaring across the river at a random tree. When Raph came across him, his first feeling was irritation. There was absolutely no place to sit and think by himself. When he looked at Yoshi, though, he cast his needs aside and strutted over to the little boy. 

When he sat down next to Yoshi, Yoshi started, wiping his eyes quickly to hide any signs of crying. The kid reminded Raph of himself more each day. "Hi, Raphael-san." 

"Hey, Yoshi," Raph greeted. He looked out among the river, watching silver ribbons wriggle along downstream. A slight breeze made the tails of his mask waver, and he felt immediately peaceful. Japan was such a serene place when there wasn't war going on. "How are you?" 

"I'm fine," Yoshi said. Raph didn't believe a word of it. 

"It's okay, kid. You can tell me. I'm not gonna bite you." 

Yoshi laughed. His little Japanese eyes disappeared as his smile replaced them. Then, Yoshi's face became serious again. "The other children were laughing at me." 

"Why did they do that?" Raph asked. For some reason, he was acting like a parent from the way he sounded when he asked. He sounded like he was astonished; the type of tone a father used when his little boy was upset was evident in his own voice. Raph failed to realize right away that he felt like a brother to Yoshi if not a father. 

"They called me 'old man.'" 

"Where would they come up with a name like that?" 

"They say I'm too serious." 

Raph laughed. He wanted to say, "That's all it is?" but he knew that children's feelings were delicate. How he knew that was beyond him...he supposed it was the connection he had with the little guy. 

"That's not a bad thing," Raph began. He wrapped his arm around the tiny little boy's shoulder, relaxing, since he knew his explanation might take a while. "But it's not a good thing _all _the time." 

"Why not, Raphael-san?"  
  
"Well, because if you were serious _all _the time, no one would want to play with you." Perhaps he was being a bit hard on the kid, but he knew that he had to face reality sooner or later. "It's good to be serious at times, like when there is someone who is upset and you want to make them feel better." Raph smiled at Yoshi, who smiled back. "But remember that you're still little. You gotta have fun sometimes." 

After that moment with Yoshi, the topic had come up again when Raph had asked him what game he was playing when he saw him acting like a warrior. Yoshi had explained that he needed to prepare for the war that was coming. Raph had suggested he go and fly kites with the others, but Yoshi refused because he was too "old." 

Raph had helped Yoshi make that kite, and he had given back some of Yoshi's childhood, helping him realize that he needed to have fun while he still could. 

Raph stroked the scepter, feeling a teardrop slide out of his eyes, sneaking in and out of the wrinkles of his aged, spotted face. He wondered where Yoshi was right then, what he was doing, if he still remembered Raphael-san...

Far back in time, Yoshi stood outside the doorway of his home in his village, sweeping the dust off the doorstep. He looked out among the mountains, taking in the pure air and feeling the warmth of the sun. His peppered hair sparkled in the afternoon light, and his squinty Japanese eyes disappeared as he smiled, feeling at peace. He wasn't sure why he had suddenly felt so good. One moment, he was angry at his eldest daughter, who had run off and married a no-good man from the village beyond theirs, then the next he was smiling.

Yoshi slowly walked back inside, holding his back as he did. His joints were worn and old, so he had to walk as slowly as was sanely possible. Yoshi passed his wife, playing with one of their many grandchildren. He walked down to a room in his house where he opened a drawer he had made when he was still a young, able-bodied twenty-year-old man. 

Inside this drawer was a kite. He pulled it out gingerly, stroking the light, fragile paper with tenderness, regarding the design of a fish. Yoshi hummed in retrospect, saying to himself, "I remember you, old friend." He paused, thinking back to when he was a five-year-old little boy. "I remember you, Raphael-san." He had remembered when he had met the four demons from the future. What splendid creatures they were...

"Watashi wa kame hito o omoidashimasu," Yoshi murmured in Japanese. He then said in English, to honor the English-speaking Raphael, "I remember the turtle man." Speaking in both languages joined the two in his mind, feeling the comfort of his old friend. He remembered the promise Raphael made, and smiled again. He knew why he had become so happy all of the sudden.

Because Raphael, after so many years, had kept his promise. He was thinking of Yoshi right this second. Yoshi cried, closing his eyes and thinking, 'Raphael. It is me, Yoshi...'

_Raphael. It is me, Yoshi..._

The voice came out of no where. Chills ran up Raph's neck, and he listened carefully. 

_I thank you, Raphael-san. You remembered your promise. It's been over fifty years since we met...many more for you...but I remember you. I have a wife and many children and grandchildren. My life is very hard, but very good. Through all of my hardships, I always remember you and how you said to enjoy being young. I am nearing sixty now, and I must admit to myself that age has caught up to me. But I am glad you told me what you did, because I have enjoyed my life and I know that I will die in peace._

Raph's eyes were brimming with tears, and he sniffed quietly as he listened for more.

_I can feel you listening, Raphael-san. I am glad I got to speak with you one last time, as I know my life is going to end sooner than I may think. I am happy now, Raphael-san. You remembered me, just like you promised. I love you, Raphael-san._

Raph sobbed when he couldn't hear Yoshi anymore. Now it was his turn to speak, his thoughts probably as quivery as if he were speaking with sobs choking him.

'Hey, kid. Thanks for the hello,' Raph thought. 'I've missed you, buddy. It's hard to think of you as an old man now. But I bet you can't picture me as an old, grumpy turtle as well. I love you too, Yoshi. Never forget it. I wish I could see you again and see how everything's turned out for you. I have always remembered you. Of course I kept my promise. I could never forget you, Yoshi. Take care of yourself, eh?'

Raph stopped, feeling at ease and at great peace. The feeling was familiar, like the feeling next to the river. He wondered if Yoshi had heard him. No...he knew that he did...

If only he knew that Yoshi was listening, smiling, crying...and laughing. He remembered.

Raph looked at the scepter, wondering if it was still possible to time travel. He'd have to ask Donny. He wanted to see Yoshi one last time. He got down from his spot and began walking back to the lair.

"Only one way to find out," he said to himself, holding the scepter close to his heart.


	2. Finding Peace

_It's been hinted to me that I needed to make a chapter 2 to this story, though I never planned to. Welp...here it is. A chapter 2. I also agree with Lady Venom that not many writers explore the idea of old ninja turtles, but hey...can't you just picture Raph as an old, cranky, hit-kids-over-the-head-with-walking-sticks grumpy old turtle?? I CAN!!! *^_^*_

Donatello sat at his computer, a newer version than from his trusty old one back in his youth, but still serving him just as well. His callused, weathered hands tapped at the keyboard as he typed in another entry in his journal. It was hard to imagine how much of a wiz he used to be, how much he wanted to know and made sure to find out...whatever inspired his Einstein self, he hoped that it wasn't fading with his memory. 

Donny had been sad to realize there had been moments where he'd forget which brother was which, or who his brothers were altogether. Those moments were rare, but Donny and everyone else knew that he would be the first one to loose his memory for good. 'I guess having a brain the size of a watermelon has a price to pay in your seventies,' Donny reasoned, chuckling in spite of himself.

"Hey Don! Get over here!" a familiar Brooklyn voice hollered. Donny almost wished he could forget who that was at the moment. Raph's voice was far too distinct to forget. He smiled, feeling that although the jerk was no different from when he was a young teen, Raph would never leave that special place in his heart, whether he remembered him or not.

"Yeah?" Donny answered back, turning in his chair. Raph hurried in, carrying the gold scepter like it was glued to his hand. "What do you got there, bro?" Funny how they still used their teenage vocabulary at such an age. "The scepter? What are ya carrying that old thing around for?"

"Does this thing still work?" Raph barked, not feeling like building up to the question at the time. 

"Why? What do you wanna time travel for?"

"I wanna go see the kid Yoshi, dammit! Just tell me how to turn it on."

Donny sat back, a little shocked with all of this. It wasn't easy absorbing such news at seventy three, or whatever age he was. At the time he didn't really care. He tried to remember the gist of the scepter. 'Ah yes...there's a forty eight-hour limit to staying before you can't return...with every person being warped a person from the past comes here...hmm...'

"Well? Come on! I don't got all day."

Donny scowled at Raph's snappiness, but became gentle in his explanation. "You know that you have a forty eight-hour time limit, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Eighty four hours. Got it."

"Forty eight, Raph."

"Forty eight?! What kind of rip-off is that!?" Raph held his thigh, cursing it for aching at such a moment. Then he remembered the kid, the one he was literally aching about. He felt it was enough. Just enough to get through the normal hey-how-ya-doin' stuff. "Alright, alright. Just tell me how to use it, Don."

"What's all this about Raph leavin' for two days?" Michelangelo called, walking slowly into the room with his teddy bear. Leonardo had given it to him after Raph had thrown it at him. He huggled it like it was something that could fix the ache in his neck. "Yo, Raph. Haven't seen you all morning. How's the weather?" he joked.

"Been the same since you got up, Mikey," Raph answered, waving his hand at him in annoyance.

"Oh yeah."

"Go find your skateboard or something, Mikey," Donny said, treating Mikey like his was already crazy. But out of the four, Mikey was actually a bit more in-tune.

"Excellent! Come on, teddy. Let's go harass the pizza dude." As Mikey granny-geared out of the lair to go find his skateboard, Donny and Raph looked at each other knowingly. 

"Better tell Leo to keep an eye on Mikey," Raph suggested. "He might hurt himself."

"Yep. HEY LEO!"

Raph jumped, holding his hands over his ears. "God damn you, Donatello! I meant AFTER I was gone! Jeez!"

Donny laughed, standing up to examine the scepter. "I'm not sure how this thing worked, Raphael," Donny began uncertainly. "Someone from the past found the scepter and activated it at the same time April was holding it. I'm not sure if the scepter is in someone's grasp at the moment. You may not be able to trade time periods with anyone right now. It's like IM..." Donny paused to take a breather, then continued. "You can send messages to someone all you want, but if they're not on at the same time you are, it won't get to them."

"Well how the hell do you find out if someone's there or not?"

"That's going to have to be decided by some wizard, Raph. I have no idea."

"But your the brains!"

"And your the brawns. Beat me up why don't ya? You came to me asking questions, and I answered them. Now beat it."

Raph stomped out of the room, finding Leo back in the middle of the living area surrounded by boxes. He needed to growl at someone other than Donny, because Donny had developed a temper with his age, which was very strange. Raph figured that two hot-heads wasn't fun, and so decided to pick on Leo. It was a fairly typical decision anyway.

"Leo! Why the hell did you have to put all this junk out here? Can't an old turtle find a place to sit? And why haven't you fixed the light bulb yet?"

"That's Donny's job, Raph, not mine." Leo's answer was cool and collected, and Raph was sick of it. He could never get much of an argument out of him anymore. Donny was too smart and grouchy, Leo was too smart and not grouchy. Mikey was too clueless and too goofy. He wanted to kill somebody.

Raph growled and cursed, heading to his subway room. He sat on his bed, looking into the scepter. 'If someone has to be holding this thing at the same time as me, how am I supposed to find out?' Raph thought to himself. 'Might as well give it a try. No telling if they're on unless I send a message.'

Raph held the thing up, wondering how they did it last time. They just held it up in the air as far as he could remember. He thought a little bit, lost in concentration...

When Raph snapped out of his thought train, he looked up at the scepter to see a serene blue sky behind it. He cursed his eyesight, figuring his eyes were going at it again. When he blinked several times to get the images gone, he realized that the sky was really there.

"What the--?" Raph stammered. He looked around, seeing nothing but trees, dirt and sky. No pizza-smelling subway lair, no dim lights, no boxes full of sentimental bullshit...just nature. Japanese nature, that is.

"I'm here?" Raph asked out loud. "I'm actually here? The piece of shit actually worked again after decades of being stored in Leo's damn box?"

Raph stood up, feeling the cool earth shift under his feet. He stepped lightly, testing his movement just in case he was hallucinating. He touched the bark of a nearby tree, seeing that it was indeed a real tree. Raph wondered if there were still wars going on, but failed to remember his Japanese history. For now, his goal was to find the village of Yoshi.

He began on a simple trail, trying to go by memory if not by senses. It had been so long since he had thought about his travels to Japan. 'I think I go this way...or was it left? Damn it...' Raph thought to himself. His mind was going back into a state of hostility, which was a bad sign for the most part. He had always been rather hostile ever since he was young in body and mind, but now at the good old age of seventy somethin', hostility only led to restless death. Splinter had taught him to learn to love and cherish those that you have before you have to leave and not get the chance to tell them what you wanted to. 

'Maybe it's the going back in time thing...maybe my mind's traveled back in time as well as my body, so I am young in the mind while going back to a younger Japan,' Raph reasoned. He couldn't believe how smart he sounded. He was reminded of Donny, and kept walking, shoving Donny out of his head with an abruptness he couldn't explain. 

During his thinking, Raph failed to realize he had come across the village, and when he did notice, he was quite shocked. It had changed so much. Houses were rebuilt and made twice their normal size, the economy of this little mountain settlement had evidently grown...he was in a new stage of development, a new stage of growth for a scarred little world from a battle years ago. 

Raph creakily headed up a hill, passing by a few farmers. Upon seeing an old, human-size turtle, many of them ran off in fear to warn the other farmers and villagers. Raph rolled his eyes. Eventually one of them will remember him. 

Yoshi stepped out of his home, unsure of the commotion. Many villagers were running about, grabbing children, yelling, "Tenma! Tenma!" (Demon! Demon!) Yoshi wondered what form of demon could haunt his village, for there had been no signs of them for years, if not any. When he walked out among the hurrying townsfolk, and looked out in the distance right before the gate of this village, he saw something...or some_one..._that caught his breath. 

At a first glance, it was a crippled old thing that walked. When the figure stepped closer to the village, seeming irritated with all of the screaming and yelling, Yoshi noticed the faded green skin, and the hard, brown shell. 

It was Raphael-san. 

Yoshi clutched his heart, fearing that he was loosing his sanity. 

Raph looked up, seeing all of the villagers running about. His ears were pounding with pain, thanks to his lovely aging process, and the scowl on his face failed to make him more safe-looking. He noticed one person standing still amongst the fearful people, and he knew right away who it was. 

He had found little Yoshi. 

"Yamete!" (Stop!) Yoshi yelled as loud as his aged voice would allow. Everyone calmed down, but still panicked and scattered. Yoshi called out among the villagers, "Minna, kame hito wa jouko wo ogorinasai!" (Everyone, give respect for the days of old to the turtle man!") 

Everyone gasped briefly, then bowed low to Raph. They had heard the many tales of four good turtle demons who returned to, by legend, destroy Lord Norinaga. They had no idea that the demons were real. 

"Yeah, yeah, get up, will yeh? I'm here to see the kid. I mean...Yoshi," Raph muttered, a bit cranky for all the commotion he had had for that day. The older he got, the less he could tolerate. He hated it. 

"Come, Raphael-san. We have much to discuss," Yoshi greeted, holding his kind hand out to the turtle. Raph grabbed it with a fond smile, caring not what anyone thought to see an old man and an old turtle walking into the home of one of the most respected farmer's house. 

"Hey, good to see you, kid," Raph croaked, a bit raspy in the throat. 

"I am very happy to see you, Raphael-sama. I wish there was more I could do for you, but all I have is a meager supper on the table." 

"Hey, food sounds good. Lead me to it." 

Far after their meal and after meeting Yoshi's wife and many grandkids, Raph and Yoshi sat side by side on mats in Yoshi's room. Spread across the floor were the kite, some old clothes, a toy sword, and the scepter. Yoshi sighed, and Raph chuckled heartily. 

"Good to see you again, Yoshi. You've been watching that temper?" 

"Oh Raphael-san. You don't know how much joy you've brought me by coming to me tonight. Ima, anata kara shiawase wa jibon no kokoro ga kimeru yo." 

"And all that jibberish means...?" 

Yoshi laughed, his smile again making his Asian eyes disappear. "It means, 'Now from you I keep happiness in my heart.'" 

Raph smiled affectionately, patting Yoshi's shoulder as he sipped some tea. He couldn't help but crack a good joke, and so asked, "Are you sure you didn't call me an ugly crabby grandpa of a turtle?" 

Yoshi laughed, and they talked far into the night about the past and what had gone on in their lives. The following day Yoshi showed Raph around the land, eager to show him the positive changes made throughout Yoshi's life. Soon, night was upon them again. Night came and went, and their talks was far from spent. Stars dimmed as early morning bled through the skies, a strawberry hue painting the clouds with peace as a lazy sun yawned her rays over the mountain village. Raph felt his body ache with sleepiness, as his all-nighters with Yoshi did a number on his aging. Yoshi was feeling it as well, and they slept for most of their last day together. 

"It's time for you to return home, Raphael-san," Yoshi said after they had prepared for their goodbyes. Raph stood there, holding the scepter in his hands. Nothing could compare to the pain he felt to leave this place. He felt like his worthless old self was accepted in old time Japan, like there was serenity in his life for once since he had grown...all of his anger, his hurt, his dreams...he wanted to be free for the last part of his life.

'All my life I have had to hide from the world,' Raph thought bitterly. 'I have never been able to explore my home with pride. I have always been ashamed...ashamed of who I was. Here I am accepted. They love me because I am different. Yoshi and I will die together. I want to stay.'

Yoshi looked at Raph's glazed eyes. "Raphael-san?"

Raph looked Yoshi in the eye, holding on to his hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. "I'm staying, kid."

"What? You cannot stay! History will be rewritten! What about the Japanese man you warped into the future?"

"Ah I probably did him some good. Let him have a heart attack. I have never felt so at peace in all my life. I have always been so angry, so passionate, longing for something I couldn't name. Why give it up when I have found it living here with you where I can die in peace with myself?"

Yoshi smiled, his eyes glazed over with tears. He whispered softly so that only Raphael, the turtle demon of long ago, could here: "Kame hito wo medeteimasu." (I admire the turtle man.)


End file.
